Wedding Reception

Tonight we had a reception for Andrew and Laura. It was a lot of work, but I am so blessed to have wonderful friends who helped make it easy: Janet was in charge of the fruit, Marilee took care of the punch, Sharla did all the decorations, Rachel made the powerpoint of photos, and Joan took care of coffee. Each of them had other people helping, so it went together quickly and turned out great. My job was the cakes.

It was so nice to see old friends from Kimball Free Methodist Church, and a number of Andrew's old HS friends came by too, as well as a number of our Wycliffe colleagues.

The fruit stack was an absolute work of art!

Dinner Conversation

Last night one of Rachel's friends, just home from a year in China as a nurse, came over for dinner. Andrew and his new wife, on their way to Ethiopia, were there, too. During the course of dinner there were discussions about condom manufacturers in China exporting the quality products and leaving the rejects for local use, eating pig uterus after an abortion, child brides and female circumcision in Ethiopia, Oprah Winfrey's fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, and defacto polygamy in Latin America. Oh, and don't forget the report that the girlfriend of the young man Rachel sent to prison was not only a new mother, she was also a stripper.

What ever happened to "Dear, how was your day at the office"?

55 Years

I drove Rachel down to the court house again today and Andrew and Laura picked her up at 4:30 after the punishment trial had ended. (Yes, the newlyweds arrived late last night and will be here for 10 days.) It was sad to hear how much trouble a person can get into in 20 years, including drugs at 11, stealing a car at 12, up through armed robbery at 20, including over 100 other charges while a juvenile. The daddy of a baby born last Thursday will be in prison for the next 55 years.

I think this has been an educational experience for Rachel, and I know it has been an emotional one. She felt pretty stressed by the experience, but handled it pretty well.

She will probably also remember to check her purse more closely next time, since they confiscated an eyeglasses screwdriver and the file off of a large nail clipper. Whoops! Of course, those things had been in her purse through all the air travel to the DR a couple weeks ago, but nevermind...

Juror

Wouldn't you know it, she got picked. The trial is actually only to determine a sentence, not a innocent or guilty verdict. It will last 2-3 days. She's not allowed to talk about it until after the trial is over, so I better stop here (I sat in the court too, to pass the time waiting for her).

Vicarious Jury Duty

When Gary got a jury summons, I drove him downtown and helped him fill out the paperwork, due to is legal blindness (which, BTW, did not exempt him from serving we found out, although being deaf does). I sat there all day with him.

Now Rachel got a summons, and since she doesn't drive much, I'm taking her there tomorrow, to Dallas county criminal court in downtown Dallas. I'll have to be prepared to sit with her all day.

And, of course, I've done this several times for my own summonses over the years. Lots of sitting, along with one murder trial.

Preying Mantis at the Park

Last night we had a picnic at a local park to farewell a couple kids on their way back to college. It was a hot Texas night, but pleasant watching the golden sun set on one side and the full moon rise on the other.

The Poisonwood Bible

It took me nearly three weeks, but I just finished reading The Poisonwood Bible which I had been wanting to read for several years. I borrowed the fat hardback copy from the library and dragged it to the DR--always time to read on airplanes.

It is a book worth reading for any missionary, so many things will resonate. But the bad guy in this book, The Father, is an exaggerated caricature of a bad missionary--thankfully, I have never met a missionary as clueless as this character.

If I Only Had A Brain

While at Family Day at the Baylor College of Medicine, we were given an anatomy demonstration. Afterwords, they passed out gloves and invited us to come have a closer look. Rachel had a chance to see what a cerebellum looks like up close and personal and we were able to use a real prop to explain a bit more about her birth defect (cerebellar hemiatrophy).

A Short Trip to Houston

white coat

It takes 4.5 hours to drive to Houston, about an hour more than it used to take on our trips to OKC. We got there yesterday afternoon in time for a trip to Super Target to buy David a bunch of "getting settled" stuff for his new home--mostly food, and some housewares too. Then we rushed off to his White Coat Ceremony where he recited an oath with his 160 fellow students and then donned his new "short" white coat. During the evening I learned the difference between a short white coat and a long one. Rachel leaned what "don" means. Gary learned what Command strips are. David learned where the auditorium is. A very educational weekend for us all.

After the ceremony we went again to Super Target and bought a bunch more stuff. We didn't stay up late as we were all too tired after spending all that money and smiling for all those photos. Gary and I slept on a blow-up bed on the floor in the living room--not bad, but some air did leak out during the night.

Then we were off again for Family Day: a fancy breakfast, several short lectures about med school, an anatomy demo, and then a fancy lunch. Then another long drive home, but we made it home by 7pm.

David has a long stretch ahead of him in Houston, at least 7-8 years. Pray with us that he will get settled soon, find some friends, do a good job with his studies, and find a church soon.

Half Sick

It seems we must have brought some little bug home with us from our trip. First Rachel was sick, then a day and a half later, I started feeling lousy. Then we got an email from Grandma and Grandpa saying they had it--flu symptoms, listlessness, and some fever.

Yesterday I discovered that our phone service had been disconnected! It took some searching of my memory, but then I realized that the problem stemmed from the time our credit card was suspended by our bank due to a security risk, and apparently my call to the phone's customer service folks in early July didn't quite do the trick. So this morning I used Rachel's cell phone to call them and pay the bill for June (the bill for July had already been paid). A few hours later the phone was working again.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to going to Houston to see David's new condo and then attend his white coat ceremony and Family Day to celebrate his start of medical school. We are trying to pull together some used furniture, housewares, and food to take to him as a housewarming gift.

When I was at the warehouse looking for free used furniture for him, I found a "new" couch for us. Today I removed the cushion covers and washed them and mended a few holes. Now I have a new old couch which is in a bit better condition than my old old couch.

I also am proud to report that yesterday I installed a new cut off-valve and inlet pipe for the toilet in the apartment, and, believe it or not, no leaks!! I couldn't have done it without first getting detailed advice from the salesman at Home Depot.

Dancing

Dancing is not a skill I grew up with, but there were plenty of opportunities to learn on our trip.


Mariachi at the rehearsal dinner.


First dance by the new couple.


I even got dragged into trying.


Some random guy gave Rachel a twirl around.


Grandma Judy remembered how to do the jitterbug.

Cinderella?

Cinderella

Many things did not go as planned during our trip to the DR, some were funny and others weren't. Rachel's golden slipper broke while we were at the country club a hour before the ceremony. There was a very helpful young man there who nailed it back together and even put it back on her little foot.

Andrew and Laura's Wedding

Andrew and Laura's wedding

He did it! One down, two to go.

We arrived home at midnight last night (1am by body time) from our week in the Dominican Republic. It was quite an experience--with many language and culture challenges for us, to say nothing of the feeling that we were taking your life in your hands every time we went somewhere by road.

The bride was even more beautiful than she normally is, the bridesmaids were lovely, Andrew had many of his college and grad school friends attend, and the wedding started only 7 minutes late. (This, actually, was a miracle, but I won't go into that just now.:-) The reception was top rate, if a bit more fiesta than our deadpan family is used to.

Pray with us that Andrew and Laura will put the Lord first in their life together, as they will face even more challenges than a "normal" couple with a cross-cultural marriage and living in yet a different culture in Ethiopia.

We're Off

I did laundry, packed, and cleaned all day, and if that isn't enough, I did two plumbing projects. The shower faucet is now working, but the toilet I tried to fix now has an OUT OF ORDER sign on it. Lucky for the people staying here in our absence, we have more than one bathroom.

For the First Time in 40 Years

I've had a professional haircut.

(Is that pathetic, or what?)

Certification

Rachel has been waiting for this all summer.

Pray that God will open just the right doors for a job for Rachel and will help her through the process of securing her Texas certification now that she has her Oklahoma one in hand.

Jessie is Home

Rachel and Jessica

Rachel's childhood friend, Jessica, recently arrived home from a year in China so she joined us for dinner tonight. It was fun hearing about some of her adventures and getting her caught up on the local gossip, especially who's gotten married and had babies, etc. She was also excited because she had just gotten a new nursing job at Parkland Hospital, and thanks to Janet for clearing the red tape away.

Andrew has had a bit of a stressful day dealing with wedding stuff. His conclusion: I don't want to get married; I want to be married.

David's New Condo and Yvi's New Husband

David is opening the door to his new condo for the first time. He is starting medical school tomorrow too. Lots of changes for him at the moment, so pray for him if you think of him.


Yvi's wedding party

David and Gary rushed back from Houston to join us in attending the wedding of the daughter of close family friends. We've known Yvi and loved her like a daughter for nearly 20 years. The wedding was unusual in some respects. There were "bridespeople" and "groomspeople" instead of bridesmaids and groomsmen. There was no veil and no wedding cake. But there was beautiful music, the officiants were uncles of the couple, and the reception was lovely.



One part of the service that was extra special to us was the communion. The bride and groom served the bread to those in attendance. The communion set was one made by Gary's mother for our old church, now in our possession. And Yvi had asked me to bake the bread.


We wish Yvi and Scott the best as they start their new life together.


The new couple

Aunt Linda Meets Her ZFT Friends IRL

OK, this will be my last post about my trip to Philly, I promise.

The trip I described in my previous posts was to attend a wedding of a couple who had met each other at an online forum that I've been chatting on for over a year. Nine people from this forum were able to go to Philadelphia for this wedding from all around the country.

It was interesting to me to think how they were the same or different from the mental picture I had built in my head. Here's a little description of each of them, all twenty-somethings. First the girls:

1. The bride--I'm sorry I didn't get very much opportunity to talk to the beautiful bride. But of course, she had bigger fish to fry. She did express her pleasure that I had been able to attend her wedding.

2. The bridesmaid--Also beautiful, she was both laughing and crying. She spent the last night in my hotel room since she had an early flight out the next morning. I wish we'd had more chance to talk.

3. The girlfriend--pretty and friendly. She was my roommate and we had a nice couple discussions together. I even talked to her mom on the phone a little too.

Next, the boys:

1. The groom--he came to our room the morning of his wedding and we had a nice little visit. I noticed he was left-handed. He seemed a little younger than I was expecting, but every bit as pleasant and intelligent as I had expected.

2. The best man--He was pretty funny! I liked him better IRL than online. He promised his current and future tatoos would all fit perfectly under "professional business attire."

3. Groomsman #1--a man of substance, and possessing above average social and communication skills. It was a pleasure to hold an intelligent conversation with him.

4. Groomsman #2--a man of many words, but words are needed to make people feel included, which he did for me. Nor was he offended when I asked him to stop talking so I could say something. I liked him.

There was one other ZFT guy there, but I already knew him IRL. I have to be careful what I say about him because he knows where I live :-) So maybe I'll just stop there.

I greeted each of my young friends with a hug, and I could tell by the way they hugged back (or not) whether they were from the north or the south. They all seemed kind, polite, and accepting of me inspite of the fact that I am "your mother."

It was a lot of fun for me to go to this wedding, which was possible since I had enough frequent flyer miles for my flight. No ax murderers, not a one. I wish others from the forum could also have been there.

Lancaster County (Monday)

tourist

Monday morning I cleaned up my guest room and boxed up the pocket knives for mailing to Chris and Ken just in time to attend morning prayer meeting at the Northeast Regional Office. After that, Carol took me around Lancaster county to do some of the tourist things. We visited Intercourse, Paradise, and Bird-in-Hand. I'm not kidding.

If you knew Carol, you'd know we had to go to a quilt shop or two. Many beautiful quilts of several kinds. Very impressive indeed. Each quilt pattern has a name and Carol knew them all.







We ended our morning of gawking by going to a wonderful Amish diner for lunch--yummy home cookin'. After that, it was time for me to head back to the airport. By some miracle, I didn't get lost until I discovered that I had read the instructions for returning the rental car incorrectly. So I drove around Philly for a while, but I did finally arrive plenty early, only to discover my flight was delayed two hours. Another time it was nice to have a cell phone.

My family was at the airport to pick me up, happy to see that I hadn't been killed by an ax murderer.

To Lancaster (Sunday)

ice cream

I didn't sleep at all well on Saturday night, nursing a headache as well as general conditions that were not conducive to sleep. About mid morning I found Colin and Ken and took their engraved pocket knives so I could mail them to them so they wouldn't get confiscated at the airport. Stacy gave me hers as well. Kenny gave me his nice PA map, which was some help to me in finding my way west. By some miracle I made it to Willow Street and to Carol's house without getting lost, and I didn't need to use the cell phone until I was already in her building and didn't know which door was hers.

Carol made me a very nice Sunday lunch, and then we went to the creamery for a Snickers ice cream cone in a homemade waffle cone. Yummy! After that we visited some of her friends including Sharon who showed me the quilt Carol had made for her. Isn't it beautiful?


quilt

After that we watched the Amish buggies go by on their Sunday drives.


juxtaposition

I had a restful evening, all by myself in a large building that housed the Wycliffe regional office and four guest rooms.

ZFT Wedding Day (Saturday)

Stacy at Wawa
Stacy woke up early, so I did too. I know I'm not her mother, but the mothering in me can't just be turned off--I could always sleep through a thunderstorm, but one of my kids made a peep and I was wide awake. We went to Wawa for some breakfast food--funny name for a convenience store, but they had real food like fruit and bagels ready to serve. Stacy thought she would be nice to her bf and his roommate, so she bought them some OJ and donuts. She took them to room 126 and gently knocked to see if they were awake. This she repeated every 30 minutes.

In the meantime, the groom came by our room and we had a really nice time to chat with him for about half an hour. It was fun to learn what his plans were. I also asked him to draw me a map of how to get to the church so I wouldn't get lost. And I gave him a map to our house since they plan to come visit soon.

About 11am Stacy discovered that her bf was in room 136, not 126. Whoops. She was finally able to deliver her gift and then we went down and had a chat with them while her bf got his tux on (he being one of the groomsmen). After a few photos of the two of them, he left for the wedding photo shoot and the rest of us got ourselves ready to go to the wedding as well.

Off we went, rain threatening. Around and around we drove, and around and around some more. This was one time when I was glad to have Rachel's cell phone. The groom's map had a few things on it we saw along the way, but we didn't make it to the church until 5 minutes before it was to start. We did, however, see some nice countryside.

Then the wedding venue had to be moved from outside to inside as it started raining. I felt sorry for one of the rain-soaked butterfly flowergirls who ran through the foyer in just her diaper. But her mom seemed more concerned than she was. I guess they used a hairdryer to dry her dress because it was dry when the wedding started about 45 minutes later.

The wedding did eventually get started. Six attendants: purple, pink, yellow, purple, pink, yellow, followed by purple, pink, yellow butterfly flowergirls. Very pretty. All went well except for an attack by an angry butterfly who was tired of being cooped up in a box.

The reception was also lovely, with a picnic theme. Cute ant stickers too. I got to eat whoopie pie and other good things. We took a fun photo of all the ZFT people--there were 9 of us altogether.


zftwedding

After that, there was cleanup of the reception area, another party at the bride's house, and by the time we drove to the hotel I was getting pretty tired. However, these youngsters were just getting started, and the fellowshipping continued until daybreak for some of them.

To Philadelphia (Friday July 15))

Neon

I'm going to give a little summary of the four days of my trip to Pennsylvania. I'll just dish it out a bit at a time.

My flight to PHL was the first one of the morning, so David had to get up to take me to DFW. I used frequent flyer miles, so I didn't get a choice on which flight. I got a Dodge Neon rental car-drives nice, but I am too short to see out of the back very well. My first time to get lost was finding the hotel. After a scenic tour on the Pennsylvania turnpike ($.75 there, and $.75 back) I found the place. It was one of those places you can see but can't figure out how to get there.

After checking in I phoned the groom, Chris. (Thanks, Rachel, for letting me use your cell phone.) In a bit Chris and Matt came to my room and introduced themselves. They couldn't stay long as they were on the way to get the tuxes, so I watched a really stupid movie for an hour. I turned it off, decided I was hungry, and got in my car and drove around the hotel parking lot to see if there was a back entrance. As I drove around, I met up with Kenny, who had just arrived (he too had trouble finding the hotel). So we went out to eat together at Bennigans. I had Kilkenny Salad.

The next while I was a bit bored until Ken (not to be confused with Kenny) called and invited me to go meet the rest of the forum guys, which I enjoyed doing. I also met the groom's mom and stepdad and a set of grandparents. Stacy showed up after 10 pm, and then we two drove back to Bennigan's for some gooey chocolate dessert and a nice chat.

**********

In other news, the New York Times published an article about the Ethnologue today. Gary did a lot of work on helping the journalist, but his actual name got cut on the last edit.

I had a nice chat with Rachel today about her trip to LA. Thank you to those who prayed for her. She got home a day before I did. They had a good and safe time, and I think she learned a lot. She was the youngest one on the trip and her teammates thought she was a bit naive about life. They kept making fun of her every time she said, "I didn't know that." But I pointed out that at least she is learning new things, think of it that way. One nice thing they said to her when observing her work at the Boys' and Girls' clubs: "Rachel, you've chosen the right field. When you work with those kids, you just glow. They love you and respond so well to you." That was a good word of affirmation for her.

And speaking of Rachel and prayers, she has an interview on Monday for an aide job at one of the elementary schools in our home school district. Pray that God will give her peace during the interview process and lead her to the job he has for her.

I'm Back!

It is way late, so this will be short. (I'm also too wound up to sleep.) I just returned from a trip to Pennsylvania. I attended a wedding of two people who met online on a forum I'm a part of. It was a lot of fun--no ax murderers, but I did leave the hotel with three pocket knives.

After the wedding I went to Lancaster to visit a friend--driving through Paradise on my way to Intercourse and then on to Bird-in-hand (no, I'm not kidding you about these town names!). I had a long day getting back with a flight delay of two hours, but I'm here safe and sound. I'll be posting photos and telling about my trip over the next few days.

I'm Off

In the head? Quite possibly.

If I don't come back, all those stories about people you meet on the internet must be true.

I'm looking forward to attending a wedding of a young couple who met online, and then a quick visit with my friend Carol. I plan to be back Monday night, Lord willing.

Condo

David just told me that the offer he made on the condo in Houston was accepted. After he pays all the closing costs, etc. he's going to be eating rice and beans and drinking Folgers instead of Starbucks. And since we ended up co-signing for him, I think the least he can do is actually move ALL his stuff out of my house and into his, don't you think?

Buttons

We've heard very briefly from Rachel. The group made it safely to LA last night. This morning they served breakfast at a homeless shelter. Then they were given $5 and told to "go help somebody." I'm anxious to hear more details about that.

David has talked his rich and soft parents into co-signing his mortgage loan so he can get a bigger place at a lower interest rate. So I had to spend part of today pulling together financial papers which we will fax in tomorrow. David's analysis of our kindness: "Yeah, mom, you get half of the liability and none of the asset."

I also went button shopping today at a unique store in our town. When you walk inside, you feel like you've stepped into a 1950s time-warp. They probably had 100,000 buttons to choose from, sorted into little containers by color. I needed two buttons, but couldn't make up my mind, so I bought four pairs while I was at it.

My faithful swimming partner is out of town, so I have to see if one of these boys will go to the pool with me.

Off to LA

Off to LA

Tonight Rachel and the singles group are having a sleepover at the church. That's because they are leaving at 4am tomorrow to drive to Los Angeles. They will be in downtown LA working in soup kitchens, food distribution places, and in Boys' and Girls' clubs M-F next week. Then they drive home next weekend. There are 4 boys and 4 girls going--but really I should be calling them men and women, shouldn't I?--they range in age from 24-33. They will be traveling in a 15-passenger van.

Please pray for their safety and effective ministry.

Sushi Rolls

David got home at 3am. Thank you, Lord, for his safe trip. Right away he wanted to make dinner to show what he's been eating while living in DC.


First, put rice on the seaweed.


Add thinly sliced vegetables and fake crabmeat.


Use the gadget to roll it up.


Cut it into pieces.


Mommy, look what I made!


Closeup.

Driving Straight Through

David is on the road, driving from DC to Dallas. He left at 5:30 this morning and we've checked in with him several times by cell phone. Not one to waste his time, he talked on his phone to a mortgage agent and a real estate agent, and at one point had me filling in the questions for an online loan application while he fed me the answers over his phone. He doesn't have much time before he needs to have a place to live in Houston.

It is now past 10pm and I've just talked to him again. He seems to think he's had enough Starbucks to keep himself awake and drive straight through. I don't approve, but hey, I'm just the mom. He asked me if there was a bed for him to sleep in--I guess I'd better go put some clean sheets on the vacant bed. I'll take the phone to bed with me and expect a call at 4:30am to let him in.

Lord, keep him safe.

In other news, this morning Rachel turned in the last bits of an application for a real teaching job. Lord, lead her to the right job.

Everybody's Growing Up

Baby David called from DC today to ask my opinion of how he should treat a real estate agent from whom he is trying to buy a condo in Houston. He also told about his farewell party from NIH--he's getting an expensive, engraved stethoscope as a goodbye gift.

Andrew called yesterday and told about the house he and soon-to-be-wife Laura might buy in the DR, strictly as an investment. He was happy how his AIDS project was coming along, and finally got two pickups out of hock so he is now driving.

Rachel decided she was (just barely) brave enough to finish applying for a real teaching job. The location would be ideal, but her chances of actually getting it are probably pretty slim. She will turn in the last pieces of the application on Tuesday.

Lord, they are all a blessing to me. Continue working in their lives, and draw them close to yourself. May their roots and foundation go deep in your love.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ton's Mongolian BBQ

Today is my birthday. My sweet daughter greeted me with a "Happy Birthday" and a hug first thing this morning. That was nice, since Gary is out of town and it is just her and me home.

Yum!

We joined friends at my favorite restaurant for lunch. All went well until Rachel bit into something way spicier than she was expecting and turned purple.


Cards and gifts

I got lots of cute cards, a couple of nice gifts, and when we got back from Ton's, there were phone messages from my mom and from Gary. So I called my mom back and while I was talking to her on Rachel's cell phone, Andrew called from Ethiopia on the house phone. Had a nice chat with him, got caught up on his life and some of the wedding plans. (I'm sure David will remember to contact me too, but he's probably too busy running his electron microscope to call until later in the day...;-)

I am blessed, and I thank God for his graciousness to me.

Cinderella

Today Rachel and I made a visit to a famous location of missionary lore--the Boutique Formal Room. As you gain access to this hidden and well-guarded chamber, you step into an expanse of tulle and taffeta, satin and sequins, and layers of lace and beads adorning a raft of Cinderella dresses. All organized by color. Another whole wall awaits those girls whose Prince Charming has recently awoken them with a kiss (wait!--am I mixing fairy tales here?) and a promise to love them forever as they travel the globe together--even if he can't afford a diamond ring. And she, being the practical type, is happy enough to wear a used gown and turn it back in to await the next lady lucky enough to head for the field not an old maid.

Yes, there are wedding gowns, veils with headpieces, bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride/groom dresses, flowergirl dresses, tuxedos, silk flower bouquets, beaded purses, shoes of every glamorous color you can imagine, strange undergarments to hold things in (or not) under the dresses, and don't forget those pens that have that two-foot feather sticking out of them to sign the guest book. All for free. The only requirements for shopping at this exclusive bridal boutique are a lifetime membership in WBT and a degree in donor relations (just kidding about that last part). Oh, and it also helps if you aren't especially picky.

Anyway, back to my point. Rachel and I found some shoes that might work for the wedding we will be participating in in early August.

At Peace

We discovered today that one can take a digital photo of an official transcript without the words COPY showing up as it does when you make a photocopy. These are things we are learning as Rachel continues to apply for paraprofessional teacher aid jobs. She still hasn't received her Oklahoma certification in the mail, but they have cashed the check she sent it with it. She has applied in Jerusalem and Judea, is starting applications for Samaria, but so far hasn't gotten to the uttermost parts of the world. Hard to do that without your own car; that remains a prayer request.

But speaking of transportation, Rachel has recently taken some concrete steps to getting involved in the singles group at church, and it turns out that one of the women lives less than half a mile away. So that should help her get rides when needed. Another side benefit of joining this group--she has found out that she is one of the youngest ones in the group, so maybe she'll quit whining about being on only one her age not yet married!

Actually, I shouldn't be so rough on her. She has been very emotionally even-keeled all summer. She hasn't been stressed out, and she has been basically a happy person. That has meant that I too haven't been stressed or upset. The Lord has been answering prayers in that regard, and I give him thanks. I had been worried about potential conflict now that my nest isn't so empty, but God has helped us to get along well and be at peace, for which I thank Him.

Rabbit

rabbit
More wild creatures trying to get into my house! Actually, it has been over a month since we've had any rain, so these animals may be coming to get a drink of the cat's water on the deck.

In other news, Rachel has decided to go on a missions trip with the singles group at our church. They've been planning this trip for a year, while Rachel was away at college, and have been doing fund-raising this whole year. At the last minute they had two people drop out, so Rachel decided the Lord was presenting her with this opportunity. The trip is July 9-17, to Los Angeles, working with the homeless with an organization called Center for Student Missions. They will be working in soup kitchens and with homeless children at Boys' and Girls' Clubs. Pray for her if the Lord brings her to mind.

Gary is off on his third trip in three weeks soon. He gets to visit David in DC and go to a Nationals' game. He'll be doing some work at the Library of Congress, helping them with language names. Then to Boston for a conference on endangered languages.

David is wrapping up his job at the National Cancer Institute. He will start his drive home on July 5. It will be nice to see him again, but he won't be home long as he will be off to Houston to secure housing for his move there to start medical school on July 25.

And Andrew's latest news is that he has managed to secure VAT tax exemption for his USAID project. He was happy about that.

Racoon

racoon
Quiet night around here, except for this visitor.

New Photos

I'm taking part of the morning off work, since I have to go to DFW at 11 and pick up Gary. I used the time this morning to finish uploading some photos of Rachel's graduation to my website.

Speaking of websites, Rachel may be trying to make her own website too. She got a digital camera for a graduation gift, so she needs a website to show off her photos. I know barely anything about how to do it, so it shouldn't take long for me to teach her that much, huh? We've found a place on the internet with interactive html examples, so even beginners like us can get a start. (And lucky for us, we've got a resident expert to give us some help when we need it--if he isn't off on a trip somewhere.)

Rachel is continuing her job search, but nothing much is happening with that at the moment. The kind of job she wants for the first year, elementary instructional aid, is hard to come by. And transportation is an issue. So pray for her regarding those two items if the Lord brings her to mind.

In other news, the air conditioning guy was back again yesterday for over seven hours, installing the heat pump-to-propane furnace switch and a variable speed blower. We also made him redo one of the vents they put in which didn't open and close easily. And Rachel went to the dentist for a filling so we had to go out for a milkshake for lunch. And I'm trying to get a newsletter out, nearly done with that. And I'm still working on finding the perfect cheesecake recipe. My latest idea to bake it in a water bath didn't work because the springform pan was too big to fit into the roasting pan. OK, enough chatter. I need to do some stuff even though I didn't go to the office.

Credit Card Security Problems - Again!

I got a nice email from my bank this morning saying, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're closing down your credit card ending with the numbers 1234 due to a security problem at one of the companies who processes credit card transactions." AARGGHH! This is, I believe, the third time I've had to change this card. I have already complained about a similar situation in this blog entry. I am glad the bank is on top of it, and doing their best to avoid bogus charges, but it is a pain to have to go back to reset the information for all the recurring charges that are made to this card (like all the utility bills, etc.

It is always interesting to me to note how there are often unforeseen negative consequences to each step of "progress" that technology makes. Our lives get "better" and worse at the same time.

Ax Murderers?

I'm seriously considering traveling next month to Philadelphia so that I can attend a wedding of some people I've never met in real life. When I said that to some of my real-life friends, they replied, "Why would you want to spend the money and effort to go visit them? You don't even know them. And what if they are ax-murderers?"

Well, truth be told, I think I have gotten to know them--to some degree, at least. After talking to people for many months, and listening to them talk to each other, and praying for them, I do think I know them. And I think it will be fun to get to know them IRL (that's "In Real Life" for those who don't know).

Swimming

Swim

Rachel and I have started our summer swim program. We have a nice pool located just a few yards away from our office building. They have lap swim at noon, so we've done that a few times, but actually kind of like going in the late afternoon or early evening when the sun isn't so glaring hot.

Speaking of hot, we've got the new air conditioner installed, as well as the new furnace, and new ductwork. Those poor workmen up in the attic when it was over 100 degrees! At one point, it was 101 degrees in our kitchen, so I hate to think what it was in the attic. Now I'm trying to figure out how to work the programmable thermostat.

Gary went to Ft. Lauderdale for one day and back the next this past week and leaves on Sunday for several days in Calgary. Then a trip to DC and Boston after that. He is feeling swamped with stuff these days what with travel, breaking in a new boss, and supervising some summer interns.

Rachel continues with her scanning in our office in the mornings, then tries to work a bit on finding a real job in the afternoons. She feels like she is not quite ready for a full-fledged teaching job for her first year, so is trying to find an instructional aide position instead. But there aren't many to be had, and transportation is an issue we haven't yet solved either. Your prayers for her job hunt would be appreciated.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

R's new hat

A couple days ago Rachel used some of her graduation money to buy herself a new hat. This is not just any hat, this is a fitted, Texas Rangers' hat. And for as much as it cost, I hope she doesn't soon lose it.

She got to try it out at a Rangers' game last night. The weather was nice, the company was nice, and the tickets were only $2 each with $1 parking. And the Rangers won. I caught the fireworks from their second homerun:



fireworks

Good News, Bad News

Out with the old

The good news: This month we just paid the last of eight years of college payments.
The bad news: Next month we will start paying for a new furnace and air conditioner system.

Advice for the Newlyweds

Today I attended a bridal shower for my good friend's daughter. In many ways I think of her as my daughter too, since our families have been close friends for many years. We played a couple shower games (I even won one of them) and we ate cake and watched her open her nice gifts. Then we went around the room and everyone there who was married gave her advice:

• Be flexible.
• When you've found what you're looking for, quit looking.
• Pray.
• Tell your husband thank you every day for some little or big thing he does for you and for your marriage. He needs to feel appreciated.
• You can't change him.
• Go to bed at the same time.
• If you both have a computer, put them in the same room.
• Remember to laugh.
• Know your husband well enough to know what he likes.
• You will have negative feelings, but hang in there. It will get better.
• The first year is the worst.
• It gets better as the years go by.
• Let it go. Ask, "Will this [insert annoying thing] matter in five years?"
• When you spat, don't both spat at the same time.
• Fight fairly. Deal with one issue at a time. Keep the issue the issue.
• Be kind while fighting.
• Never say God is on your side in order to win an argument.
• Say, "I feel angry," rather than, "You make me angry."
• After an argument, bow down so low that he will get the pie in his face. (This one puzzled us until the woman explained that it meant let him take full responsibility for an action you don't agree with; don't protect him from his own folly.) (Hmm, I'm still thinking about this one.)
  

Hot Lipstick

Last evening we noticed that even though the air conditioner was running, it was getting warmer and warmer. Sure enough, the a/c has quit working. Lucky for us, we have a guest room at the other end of the house and it has a small wall air conditioner. So we slept in our own guest room last night.

When I moved the bed to put on the sheets, I found a lipstick on the floor under the bed. Hmm, who could this belong to--I don't wear lipstick. Ma Hoyt, is it yours?? I won't bother mailing it to you, it was nearly gone anyway. I just hope you didn't look too washed out at Ardith's graduation :-)

I called the air conditioning place this morning, but they couldn't come today. They promise to come tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about this...

In the meantime, my friend made me go wedding dress shopping today. No, not for a wedding dress, for a dress for the wedding. I'm looking for an official Mother of the Groom dress. Ugh. I hate shopping.

A Memory

Apparently some people think reading aloud to each other is oafy. (See previous post.) But I disagree. When my husband and I were young missionaries in the Solomon Islands, we often read out loud to each other for entertainment. Of course, at that time we had no electricity, and only one hurricane lamp, so there was only enough light for one person to read! Ah, the memories of sweating under that mosquito net, listening to The Princess and Curdy. That's lots better than listening to the buzz of mosquitoes trying to get into your cube of protection.

That reminds me once of checking on my sleeping babies. I remember being so personally mad at a given mosquito--how dare she suck the blood from, and deposit falciparum into, my precious child's arm as he lie there asleep with his arm pushed up against the mosquito net? The proboscis on that anopheles was long enough to push through the netting into my child. I don't know why, but somehow that vision is still a fresh memory, though that child is now about the same age I was at the time.

Sometimes I still read aloud to Gary, but now it is because sometimes it is faster for me to read soemthing to him than for him to use the technology he needs to read to himself (very strong glasses, closed circuit TV, big computer montior, special text-to-speech software, etc.).

Read Me a Bedtime Story!

Happy Birthday!

Rachel and I have decided you're never too old to read a story, or listen to a story. We're reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe out loud to each other, just one chapter a night. Today she talked her dad into buying her her own copy of the book (a nice colour edition) for her birthday.

When we got home from the bookstore, she found these lovely roses from her big brother, who had not forgotten that today is June 7. Then he also called her from Ethiopia to wish her a happy birthday. (He has just gotten a land line at his new house, so that also means he now has internet access from home.) I was way too busy today, so Rachel didn't get a cake, but we did go out for lunch.

A Word of Encouragement from the Lord

Today Rachel and I were having a serious, and somewhat discouraging, discussion about her job hunt. She is pretty sure she doesn't want to apply for a regular classroom teacher job for her first job. So she has been looking at various school districts' websites to see if there are any teacher's aid positions listed. Her idea is that after a year as teacher's aid, she might feel capable of handling her own class. Our conversation included talk about trusting God to provide the right job.

But the websites didn't list any jobs like that, so it was getting discouraging to talk about it. So I let it drop.

About one minute later the phone rang. It was our family friend, Emily, who is a teacher in Arlington, asking if Rachel was interested in applying for a teacher aid job. To shorten the story, Rachel now plans to go to the Arlington School district offices on Wednesday to see if there are any openings for a teacher's aid position in Arlington.

In the meantime, Rachel phoned the Texas Board of Teacher Education this afternoon and found herself 36th in the queue to have her call answered. She is trying to get info about securing her Texas credential.

Armadillo

I wasn't clever enough to get my own photo, but we did see an armadillo come out of the woods behind our house tonight. Oddly enough, the cat was near the edge of the woods and the cat and the armadillo stood and looked at each other for a while, then the armadillo headed for our compost pile to scrounge for grubs. We had 20 people at our house for a potluck, so the kids thought it was fun to catch a glimpse of a live armadillo, since usually they are dead on the side of the road. This particular animal has been digging nightly in the compost pile which is fine; however, sometimes he proceeds to the front yard, now dimpled with divots.

Oaf Children

Oaf children

Rachel being strangled by a couple of protocol droids in Washington DC.

Wedding Invitations

Invites

My kind friend Martha came over this morning to help me start addressing wedding invitations. Sounds simple enough, huh? No way! It is very complicated. Plus there is the problem of finding mailing addresses for a generation who keep in touch by phone or email. Have you seen the websites that have all the wedding info on them? Cool idea. Here is Andrew and Laura's site.

(Formerly) Forest View

I think land developers must hire script writers to come up with the names they give their housing subdivisions. For instance, Mountain Creek--are there any mountains anywhere in North Texas? Creek? Well, I suppose there is a creek somewhere, except for in the summer when they all dry up. Similarly, Mountain Terrace. Then, there is Hunters Glen. First of all, the punctuation is wrong. Secondly, the only hunting going on around here is for which house, among all these identical looking houses, is mine? And the newest dusty construction project going on near my house has the audacity to call itself Forest View. What's up with that? There would have been at least a teeny forest to view if they hadn't just bulldozed it down. And the saddest of all--they are threatening to do the same to the forest in my back yard.

The Fifth Wheel

Her words, not mine.

Rachel is off to Washington DC for the long weekend, a graduation gift from her brothers. She was all excited about going until this afternoon she realized that not only was she going to be hanging out with her brothers, but also with their girlfriends. They are all gathering in DC for the wedding of one of Andrew's friends who happens to also live in the same house as David. I reminded Rachel that weddings were a good place to meet cute guys. That cheered her up a little.

Besides the wedding, they plan to also go to the new Star Wars movie and maybe a museum or two.

Andrew phoned us from DC this afternoon, having just arrived from Africa. How he manages to travel here from Africa and back twice in less than a month is beyond me. But he said it was worth it it terms of his job. He was happy to report that yesterday he spent $90,000.00--on two trucks and 12 months of office rent, paid in advance.

Can I Borrow Your Baby?

Baby

Rachel loves children. I guess it is good she has chosen elementary education as a career. She asked me the other day what I would think if, in the case that she never married, she adopted a child.

Speaking of adopted children, pray with me for a family in our church who is in the process of adopting an older child who has many emotional and behavioral issues. Ask God to work in the child's life and to give every member of the adoptive family wisdom, grace, and patience.

Grandma and her Granddaughters

Grandma and her granddaughters

My mom has been here visiting us since Rachel's graduation. We were happy to have my sister's daughter, April, also come visit us while grandma is here. April is on her way to be a counselor at
Camp Buckner, which is located somewhere near Austin. After tomorrow I should know better where it is located since all us girls are going to drive April down there tomorrow morning. It has been fun to have April visit. I'm sorry her twin brother, Alan, couldn't come along also--but he did visit us here a couple summers ago.

Home Cookin' and Episode III

Tonight, after eating the chili left over from Ma Hoyt's visit, I heard these words: "So nice not to be eating cafeteria food any more."

And speaking of college students, I just saw the neighbor boy, Jesse, who has just graduated from Texas A&M, carrying a load of games, blankets and chairs to his car.

"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Star Wars," he replied. "I'm going to go get in line with Caleb and Tim."
"Do you have tickets?"
"Oh, yes, we have tickets. We just are getting in line to get good seats."

Poor David, missing out on all this fun. How many years ago was it that Jesse's mom and I took these same boys--then too young to drive--and stood in line for Episode I?

Personal Space

My daughter has moved home. Do I need to rename this blog?

Rachel's Graduation

Rachel's graduation

Yay! She did it! We are so proud of Rachel for graduating from Southern Nazarene University yesterday.

We drove up to her school on Friday, arriving before 3pm, after sitting in traffic for a couple spells. Amazing but true, she had every last little thing pack up and cleaned up, so loading the cars went very smoothly and quickly. I say cars, plural, because her friend, Kenny, kindly drove up with us in his car to help bring her stuff home. Also attending: Grandma Dennis from south Texas and Auntie Carol from Pennsylvania. Rachel was happy for these visitors especially since her own brothers were unable to attend.

After packing the car we went to the hotel, changed our clothes, and then headed back to SNU for a dinner given in honor of the graduates. The dinner speaker gave a humorous talk, but it was a good talk since I actually remembered his three points:

1. Get a job.
2. Be happy--appreciate the humor in life.
3. Remember Jesus loves you.

After that it was back to the hotel to watch the Dallas Mavericks on cable TV--they lost. According to reports, the boys got a lot more sleep in their room than the girls did in theirs.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, then drove off to do some sightseeing at the Myriad Gardens, a lovely park and elaborate greenhouse with 2000 tropical plant species. Then back to the hotel, change our clothes again, and off to graduation.

The graduation was kind of long, but the did a quick job of actually reading off the names. When Rachel's name was read they pronounced the "Fitona" part right, but they messed up on the "Simons." For a short moment, we though she was going to run back and tell them to correct the pronunciation, but she decided instead to keep on walking across the stage. After the indoor ceremony we went over to the fountain for a ivy cutting ceremony, then some photos with professors and friends, then we were headed back home, arriving at nearly 10pm.

Grandma will be here several more days and my niece, April, is coming tomorrow for a few days, so that will be a nice time for Rachel to transition back to life here.